BeStrong’s blend of intellectual east coast flavor, fluid raps, on top of soulful southern production reflects the climatic point of hip-hop's long journey back to itself. BeStrong is taking Southern Hip-Hop in bold, innovative directions: less reliance on gangster image, more positivity and creative concepts, thicker arrangements, and flawless lyrics that deal brutally with injustice and hypocrisy. In addition, he pleasantly balances it all with a sexy, stimulating swag.
We look forward to seeing BeStrong take his city and the world by storm in the fall of 2008 with his freshman album The End is Here. He speaks of the album in a recent interview at www.zionfunction.com by saying, “This album will tap into all areas of feeling for the listener. It’s not just for the folks who love hip-hop. It’s for a new generation of individuals who want to have a good time, but are also increasingly aware of our role in today’s society.” He goes on to say, “I guess you could call it freedom music. I just want my people to be free again…”
BeStrong (Issa Minkah) discovered hip-hop at the ripe age of 14 and was an addict ever since. At such a young age, he was already obsessed with poetry, and began building on his writing skills to create hip-hop songs. “Hip-Hop” he says, “has always been my escape. Coming up, life was a serious struggle, but Hip-Hop was my way of expressing myself and seeing beyond the temporary problems in my life. More than anything or anyone else, hip-hop has always been there. We categorize it and give it this name: hip-hop, but for me, it is a vehicle given from God and it has always provided comfort for me.”
BeStrong moved around consistently at a young age due to his father being in the military and various hardships taking place. He gives his father, grandparents, aunt, and older cousin credit for raising him and instilling in him his moral values and a strong positive outlook on life. He attended Myers Park high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, and several lyrical battles gave him the opportunity to gain respect for his skills. He met another lyricist by the name of J-Rhel and formed a group called Sage. The two began performing at different talent shows and gained more publicity as individuals. “J-Rhel’s brother used to school us on the industry and what hip-hop was really all about, so from the start, I always wanted to disassociate myself from the bling.” His style became very recognizable and many began to compare him to Jay-Z
“My strongest musical influences,” says BeStrong, “beyond a shadow of a doubt are Busta Rhymes, Common, and OutKast. There are so many more, but these cats have played a major role in the creation of my fundamental values as it relates to this thing we call Hip-Hop.” You can hear the strong spiritual messages that seem to echo the Busta Rhymes of The Coming, along with the passionate flavor of Common’s Like Water for Chocolate almost intricately interwoven into BeStrong’s lyrical style.
In addition to working with other artists such as C-Mack (one of his closest friends), he eventually met Nomb in school (then Vitnomb), a very reputable emcee around the city of Charlotte. Nomb introduced BeStrong (then Versatyle Child) to Maurice Gamble, owner of Go Gitta Records. BeStrong signed with Go Gitta Records and was able to record 2 albums worth of music, and also travel with label mates on a southeast tour with Cash Money Records. During his time with the label, he was able to record songs which were featured on such albums as Y2G, Streetcode, Ridin N Smokin, and Streetcode II.
He worked hard and was able to watch the reputation of the label and his label mates become more and more popular. Nomb went on to sign with Geffen Records, and BeStrong began working more independently, focusing specifically on building his craft and creativity without the influence of anything other than God. BeStrong was featured on the Pinnacle Rhythms’ album SOTSA: Symphony of the Spiritual Amnesty. The album was given international exposure and featured on numerous radio stations. Much of the production from the album was also featured on MTV. He was also able to reconnect with C-Mack to release the album Back to Basics.
As an independent artist, BeStrong has worked with many underground artists in the southeast and has released a number of mix tapes as well. Urban Connect’s Ced Glenn released the Urban Connect mix tape featuring such artists as J-Rhel, Majah, Deucie, and more. Two of the most popular mix tapes, still gaining more and more exposure internationally are Global Warning Volume 1: The Aquarian Precursor and Global Warning Volume 2: Rising in Babylon
Critics lavishly praise BeStrong’s progressive vision, hailing him as a great leap forward for Hip-Hop. He fuses the lyrical cadence of Black Thought together with the swag and style similar to that of Mos Def. Time and time again, he leaves his listeners hitting repeat, while igniting areas of thought and emotion that hadn’t been tapped in a long time.
